


Sunday Well Spent

by mrs_leary (julie)



Series: Indian Summer [3]
Category: Merlin (TV) RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-17
Updated: 2011-01-17
Packaged: 2017-10-28 07:13:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/305202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julie/pseuds/mrs_leary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Colin and Bradley hit an obstacle in their relationship, they come to Richard for advice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunday Well Spent

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gatepromise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatepromise/gifts).



> This fic was written for **gatepromise** , whose lovely idea this was; thank you, my friend, for all your kindness and encouragement! ♥
> 
> With apologies to anyone who doesn’t like my rather cheeky use ’n abuse of the proverb for the title!

♦

 _A Sunday well spent brings a week of content._

♦

Once upon a long peaceful Sunday afternoon… Richard’s phone rang, and he considered not answering it until he saw from the display that it was Colin. He quickly fumbled with the keys before the call could go through to voicemail, and he blurted something eager and indistinct that included Colin’s name and ‘what a pleasure’. A year before he might have winced at giving himself away like that, but he and Colin had managed to create this rare space between them in which they could both be honest and true.

‘Richard. How are you?’

And Colin genuinely wanted to know, but the question was also a prevarication. They both understood that. ‘All the better for hearing your voice, my dear. What can I do for you?’

‘Um. Can we come round? Me ’n Bradley, I mean.’

‘Of course. Of course you may.’ _You know you don’t even need to ask, just grace my doorstep and –_

‘Won’t be interrupting anything…?’

‘Oh, my dear, what a kind thought. But alas, no.’

‘I mean – _anything_.’

‘I’m quite alone, if that’s what you’re asking.’ Richard frowned a little, concerned. ‘What is it?’

‘Just need some advice, is all.’ A sigh gusted down the line. ‘What can I bring? D’you need anything in particular?’

‘There’s really no need –’

‘Can’t turn up empty–handed,’ Colin replied brusquely. This was a lesson that had obviously been hammered home at a very early age, no doubt by the wonderful Mr and Mrs Morgan.

‘Then, whatever you and Bradley would like best to drink, and perhaps an appropriate snack to have with it.’

‘All right.’ And they agreed that the two young men would arrive in an hour or a little less. Before ending the call, though, Colin said in a low and husky voice, ‘ _Thank you_ , Richard.’

For the first time, Richard wondered if something was seriously wrong. ‘Colin. Are you –’

‘I’m fine. _We’re_ fine. Just – we need your help, if you can.’

‘Of course. Of course. Then I’ll see you very soon.’

‘Thanks, Richard.’

They said farewell and ended the call, and Richard looked about him. He was a fastidious old thing, he knew, so the house was neat and clean, but he wanted distraction while he waited, so he pottered around rearranging cushions and other oddments, tidying his reading pile, wiping down the kitchen benches once more. He wouldn’t know what glassware or crockery to choose until they arrived with whatever they’d brought, so he left that for now. He wouldn’t know what music to choose, either, if any was even needed.

He _didn’t_ think, as he wandered around, too full of anticipation to settle – he most _definitely_ didn’t think about the fact that he’d changed the bed linen only the previous morning. Neither did he let himself even set foot on the stairs to go up and see if he needed clean sheets anyway. He deplored himself as a selfish sort even as he dismissed such notions… This afternoon was for talk, and for Bradley and Colin, and for whatever obstacle they’d discovered in their path. And even though entirely unexpected things had happened on the previous two occasions Colin or both of them had visited on a Sunday afternoon, obviously nothing at all was going to happen this time. The two young men had quickly settled into a surprisingly secure relationship, and that was that. Richard knew himself to have a wicked imagination, and there was no preventing it from casting fancies into his mind’s eye, but such things weren’t even possibilities really, and he just wouldn’t deign to pay them any attention. He was grateful enough for the thought that Colin and Bradley wanted to talk with him, that they sought his advice. He was happy enough that his own love for Colin hadn’t alienated either of them. He just – He just wasn’t so old yet that he didn’t _yearn_.

Richard sighed, and turned to baking. Sometimes it was the only thing to do.

♦

The doorbell rang just as he was taking the oat slice out of the oven. Richard ended up opening the front door with an oven mitt still on his right hand, which prompted a raised eyebrow from Colin and a surprised splutter of a giggle from Bradley. Then there was the confusion of welcoming them in, Bradley immediately reverting to pale and self–conscious, Colin heading through to the kitchen with his grocery bags, and no one quite meeting anyone else’s eye. But then Colin drew in a deep breath, and happily exclaimed, ‘God, that smells delicious,’ to which Bradley concurred with a low rumbling hum. ‘Oat slice,’ Richard explained, ‘with apricots and dates,’ and then Colin was echoing Bradley’s hum, and Richard laughed a little in delight, and the tension eased, just enough. Just enough.

The two young men had brought a six–pack of beer for themselves and a bottle of Glenlivet for Richard, but they decided that whisky was the thing to go with oat slice, and soon they were all settled on Richard’s decadent red sofa, eating the slice though it was still warm, licking their fingers, and sipping at the generous shots of whisky Richard had poured into his newest, most charmingly chunky tumblers. Laughing together and harmlessly commenting on nothing that wasn’t in their immediate ken. This time, instead of Colin sitting in between the two men who loved him, Bradley was in the middle. And Richard thought that Colin had subtly ensured it was so. He wondered why, but he trusted Colin to do what was best.

When they were done eating the slice, Richard collected the plates and piled them on the coffee table, then topped up their glasses. Bradley’s glass had been the lowest – and he now reached again for his whisky with a slight edge of desperation. Though all it took was a brush of Colin’s fingertips against his wrist to make him fall back, leaving the glass where it was.

A silence stretched, as they each contemplated whatever was before them, and finally Richard gently prompted, ‘There was something you wanted to talk about…?’

‘ _Yes_ ,’ Colin gusted out with relief. Between them, poor pale Bradley hunkered down and crossed his arms, but made no move to prevent this. Colin, with all the limberness of youth, lifted his legs and spun about, ending up sitting cross–legged facing the back of the sofa, though turned towards his two companions. His hand wrapped reassuringly around Bradley’s thigh.

Richard kept his posture relaxed, his hands resting in his lap. Not turning towards them, not wanting Bradley to feel confronted. ‘I promise you that –’

But Colin lifted his hand for a moment in a gesture that was both dismissive and reassuring. _If we didn’t trust you, we wouldn’t even be here_. He said huskily, almost as if they were already halfway into the conversation, ‘I asked Bradley if I could talk to you about this. And he said –’

‘– maybe we both should.’

Richard nodded. ‘You are very kind to involve me. To rely on me so.’

Another moment, and at last the words spilled from Colin’s sinfully plump lips: ‘So, we fuck, me ’n Bradley. A lot. By which I mean, Bradley fucks me.’ Richard could see in his peripheral vision that Bradley’s pale cheeks were splotched red now. ‘And that’s grand. For both of us. But then Bradley wanted me to fuck him. And we just – Well, our first go, I completely stuffed it up. And we’ve tried since, a few times now, and it’s just gotten worse and worse, and I – Well.’ Colin ground to a halt.

Richard waited quietly for a long moment, but it seemed Colin wasn’t going to continue without prompting. Questions teemed in Richard’s mind, but he tried to put them aside. What might be the best way forward? He carefully asked, ‘Why do you say you stuffed it up?’

‘Well. Bradley was a bit nervous. Of course. I mean, we all are the first time, aren’t we? And I was really trying to take it slow. But you didn’t even like me fingering you, did you?’

Bradley shook his head mutely, though not very vehemently.

‘He wanted me to try anyway. Probably I shouldn’t have,’ Colin confessed, with a guilty look at Richard.

‘I told you to,’ Bradley said hoarsely, as if reluctant to speak, but even more reluctant to let Richard think Colin had forced him.

‘After a bit of trying, I broke through. Just the head, you know. And it was too much. Even that was too much, wasn’t it, darlin’?’

Bradley nodded.

Colin shook his head, tightened his hand on Bradley’s thigh, and huffed an unhappy snort. ‘So then, like an eejit, I got frustrated at how clumsy I was being – you know, I thought I was actually quite good at this. Sex, I mean,’ he added with a hollow scoff. ‘And Bradley thought I was annoyed with him, so that was kind of the final straw. And even once we’d sorted that out, every time we’ve tried since we just seem to get the irrits with ourselves and each other, and Bradley tenses up –’ he offered a placatory gesture to his love – ‘I know, I know, and why shouldn’t you? – and I can’t seem to do anything right. So we dig ourselves in deeper and deeper, and now it’s become this whole big thing.’

Richard waited for a long moment in the turbulent wake of all that. Bradley leaned forward to reach for his whisky, and took a gulp, and this time Colin didn’t stop him. Finally Richard ventured an observation: ‘And yet you keep trying.’

‘Yes,’ said Colin. ‘Of course.’

‘Why is it so important to you?’ Richard turned to Bradley, keeping his demeanour as gentle and neutral as he might. ‘Is it something you feel you _have_ to do? Because you don’t have to. You don’t have to do anything more than whatever else you were already doing.’

‘But I do,’ Bradley protested rustily.

‘There are no rules about this. As long as you’re both happy and satisfied, it really doesn’t matter how much or how little you do in terms of physical acts.’

‘But I want to,’ Bradley insisted.

‘Why is that?’ Richard asked lightly.

‘I want – I want Col to feel – what _I_ feel – when I’m inside him.’

‘But Richard’s right,’ Colin said. ‘I don’t _need_ to feel that.’

Bradley turned his head towards him. ‘You like it, though. You’ve liked it – with other guys.’

‘Yeah, but – this is you and me, innit? It’s like Richard said: there are no rules.’

‘I feel – I feel I’m part of you,’ Bradley finally said in a husky whisper. ‘I want you to feel like you’re part of me.’

Colin moaned in reaction, and stared a bit madly at Bradley for a long moment. Then he caught Bradley’s face between both hands, and leaned in to kiss him. Watching them, unable to look away, Richard could tell when Colin pressed his tongue inside Bradley’s mouth, could see Bradley open further to accept him; Bradley tilted his head back a little, surrendering, and his lovely moan echoed Colin’s.

‘There,’ Colin said roughly when he was done, ‘I’m part of you. I already was, but now you know that it’s so.’

Bradley sighed, though he was looking rather less pale. ‘You know,’ he said conversationally to Colin, ‘you should have done it that time I was drunk. Got it over and done with. So we could get past this.’

‘No, Bradley. _No_. I’m not doing anything you have to be drunk to get through.’

A despondent shrug answered this. ‘I don’t know another way any more.’

‘You said you’ve tried,’ Richard commented, ‘with just a finger.’

‘Yes,’ Colin replied. ‘Since that one time, we haven’t tried anything more.’

‘With plenty of lube?’

‘ _Yes_. Ridiculous amounts.’

‘And, Bradley, you still don’t like even that?’

Bradley shook his head. ‘Not really,’ he muttered. ‘Not yet.’ After a moment he said, a bit stronger, ‘Does it matter? Sex isn’t always grand, is it? Even with someone you –’  _love_.

‘I have to say,’ Richard ventured, ‘I’m not certain you should be trying at all. If Bradley’s so uncomfortable or uncertain –’

‘I’m not uncertain!’ he protested.

‘I think,’ Colin said thickly, interrupting them both – ‘I think we just need to find a way past this. Or through it.’

‘You should just do it,’ Bradley advised. ‘Just ignore me and do it.’

‘Oh my darlin’… my heart’s not that hard. Not for anyone, but ’specially not for you.’

‘It’ll hurt, but –’

‘ _If I thought_ it was the kind of hurt that would pass as soon as you were used to it, then maybe. But there’s something more than that. Isn’t there?’

Bradley shook his head vehemently, though he seemed dazed and lost for words.

‘Tell me again, Bradley,’ said Richard, ‘why this is so important to you.’

‘I want – I want – Colin to feel a part of me, and –’

‘What will _you_ feel, Bradley? Never mind what Colin will feel.’

‘I want him to be – part of me. I want –’

‘Yes, my dear,’ he whispered.

‘I want to feel… not alone… but –’ Bradley screwed his eyes shut for a moment, as if fighting back tears. Colin almost grabbed him, almost interrupted this, but Richard stilled him with a glance. ‘God!’ Bradley cried out under his breath. ‘I want it. I want it _so fuckin’ much_.’ Bradley gasped –

Colin echoed him. Perhaps neither he nor Richard had quite expected this.

‘I want to not be – _whole_ any more. Is that a bad thing?’ Bradley suddenly opened his eyes to look at Richard, entirely vulnerable.

‘No, my dear,’ he whispered honestly, though saving a more complex answer for when Bradley was better able to cope.

‘I was afraid it was a bad thing.’ Bradley’s gaze lowered again, though he didn’t close his eyes this time. ‘I think I’ll – I  _know_ I’ll – I’ll love it! Oh god,’ he groaned.

‘Bradley…’ Colin murmured.

‘I’m gonna love it,’ Bradley explained to him, quite reasonably now. ‘D’you understand? I didn’t, but I get it now. It’s gonna change me. I turned my life around for you, Col, but I didn’t think –’

‘– it’d go so deep,’ Colin supplied.

‘No.’

‘And,’ Colin added diffidently, ‘are you sure you want –’

‘ ** _Yes_** ,’ said Bradley fiercely – and they each surged forward, they were in each other’s arms, clinging on. Clinging.

Richard closed his eyes, and took himself away, trying not to listen to the catch in Bradley’s panting breath, the snag in Colin’s, the whispered curses and endearments.

After a long while, once they’d quietened again, Richard said, ‘I’m going to call you a taxi now.’

‘No,’ Colin said.

‘You need to be at home together. You need to take Bradley home.’

The two men had pulled apart a little so that they could see each other, so they could look at each other in wonder, in contentment and anticipation. Bradley was full of utterly loving trust. Now Colin leaned in again to rest his forehead against Bradley’s, and he stroked his palm down that magnificent jaw–line. ‘I don’t wanna lose this,’ Colin said, ‘and I don’t wanna stuff it up.’

‘Colin,’ said Richard, ‘I have every faith that you won’t.’

‘This moment. We’re going to stay in this moment, and get the thing done.’

‘Well, if you…’ Richard sighed. Did he owe them this much? But – of course, yes, he immediately answered himself. He owed them anything they wanted. Everything they wanted. ‘Yes, all right.’ He shifted onto the edge of the sofa, preparatory to getting up. ‘The guest bedroom. You know where it is, Colin. On your right at the top of the stairs. It has its own bathroom, everything you’ll need.’ And Richard would, he supposed, try to distract himself with a book, music, whisky, anything he could. ‘Please… I rely upon you considering yourselves at home.’

‘No, Richard. With _you_. We’re doing this with you.’

He was honestly taken aback. Despite all they’d already been through together, he could never have expected this.

‘I need your help, Richard. To take care of Bradley as well as he deserves.’

‘Oh my dearest man… no.’

‘Where?’ Colin murmured to Bradley. ‘The bed, or…?’

‘This sofa,’ was the quietly happy reply. Then Bradley sat back a little, and turned his face up to Richard. ‘If you don’t mind us… getting it a bit filthy.’

‘I bought it for that very purpose,’ Richard assured him. But then as he stood and collected the plates from which they’d eaten, something occurred to him. ‘Bradley? Is that part of the problem? You feel the act is filthy – I mean, in a _bad_ way…’

A frown troubled his brow. ‘Dunno. Maybe.’

‘You could both go have a shower before you start. And – forgive me for the practicalities, Bradley, but let’s not risk anything deterring you. Empty yourself if you need to; don’t be embarrassed about matters which are entirely natural. Colin, if you feel an enema would help… You’ve administered one before?’

‘Yeah. I don’t use them myself, but I’ve been with people who do.’

‘Good. Only if it won’t harm more than help, of course. Go on,’ he added, with a shooing gesture despite the fact he still had the plates in his hands, ‘go and take care of each other.’

‘Thank you, Richard,’ Colin said, as he unwound and stood from the sofa, took Bradley’s hand in his, and led him off towards the stairs.

‘And if you end up in the guest bedroom instead of back here,’ Richard called after them, ‘you’ll never hear a reproach from me.’

Colin’s laugh tumbled back down. ‘See you soon, Richard!’

Richard shook his head, and at last took the plates through to the kitchen. And then he set about preparing.

♦

When the two young men reappeared, they were still hand–in–hand. Colin was naked, bless him, with his lovely cock hanging heavy against his thighs below a dark hatch of hair, while Bradley was wrapped up in Richard’s spare blue silk dressing robe. Richard considered them carefully as the pair walked towards him. Bradley was glowing with warmth and trust – but there was an edge of courage to it as well. Colin still had work laid out for him.

‘Come and sit down,’ Richard invited. He himself was still dressed in shirt, trousers and shoes, but he had prepared all else for them. ‘Bradley, come and sit.’ He’d shifted the coffee table away, and brought the red velvet ottoman close to the sofa, then draped it in the single duvet from the couch in his study. Colin watched with a smile as Richard sat Bradley down on it, with his back to the sofa; then Richard sat on the sofa behind Bradley, brought the duvet up across his own chest, and opened his arms. ‘Sit back, my dear. Let me hold you.’ A bright glance over his shoulder from Bradley before he sank back into Richard’s embrace, softened by goose down, refined by Egyptian cotton. ‘Settle yourself in,’ Richard encouraged, taking the width of Bradley’s shoulders across the broad of his chest, his own elbows propped on his knees, and his lower arms cradling the man through the duvet. ‘All secure?’

‘Yes,’ said Bradley with a satisfied tone. He turned his head to rub catlike against Richard’s neck. ‘That’s perfect.’

‘Colin,’ Richard prompted. They mustn’t rush this, but then neither must they let delays create doubts.

Colin seemed well impressed. He came to stand beside them for a moment, bestowed a kiss to Richard’s temple, and then another to Bradley’s mouth. ‘Ready, my darlin’ man?’ he asked, and Bradley again replied, ‘Yes.’ So Colin went to place himself between Bradley’s open thighs. There were cushions on the floor there for his knees, and lube, and a towel. Colin’s smile became a grin. ‘Richard,’ he said, sitting back on his heels, ‘you take care of us so well, I don’t know what to say.’

‘You know what to do, though,’ Richard replied.

‘That I do.’

And taking his time, Colin lubed up his fingers, began gently stroking across and caressing Bradley’s hole, and Bradley was impatient at first, but Richard murmured soothing fondness in his ear, encouraged him to breathe long and slow – and when Colin was ready to press a fingertip within him, Richard talked about accepting him, loving him, until Bradley muttered in response, ‘I do, I do, _I will_.’ Nevertheless, he struggled a little, even with only one of Colin’s long slim fingers. ‘Clench around it,’ Richard advised him. ‘I know it’s counterintuitive, but clench around it and then relax. Do that two or three times, and you’ll find it becomes so much easier.’ And Bradley took a shuddering breath, and did as he was bid, then a still moment passed as he considered the effects – and at last he did indeed relax with a sigh. ‘You can do that again whenever it’s necessary, my dear, whenever you start to tense up. Colin won’t mind, you won’t hurt him…’

‘No, Colin won’t mind,’ Colin chipped in. ‘Colin might go cross–eyed with lust if you do that to his cock, though.’

Bradley gusted out a genuine laugh. ‘Then I will,’ he promised.

‘That’s it, my dear,’ Richard murmured, knowing they were almost there now, knowing he was no longer really needed, if he ever had been. ‘That’s it, my dear loves.’

‘D’you feel like you’re ready, my darlin’?’ Colin said, low.

‘Yes. I think so. Yes.’

Though as soon as Colin had withdrawn his fingers so he could lube up his cock, Bradley started getting anxious again. ‘You’re going to love this,’ Richard reminded him, so softly that maybe even Colin wouldn’t hear. ‘You know you will. Maybe not right away, but soon. Soon you’ll be begging for it, like that young man of yours does.’

Bradley huffed. ‘He does, too…’

‘You want him inside you… Don’t you, Bradley? Now’s the time to say, if you really don’t want to go ahead.’

‘No, I do. I do. I just –’

‘You want him to be part of you. You don’t want to be alone. Isn’t that right, my dear one? You want to let him in.’

‘I do, yes.’ Bradley sighed, and sagged in Richard’s arms. ‘Colin,’ Bradley said aloud, ‘do it. Do it _now_.’

And Colin looked at him, looked at Richard, who nodded – and he aligned himself, and pushed smoothly in.

♦

At first it was strangely easy, and Colin managed three careful thrusts, pushing a little further in each time – but then Bradley seemed to panic a little, and he tensed up again, wriggled as if he instinctively wanted to get away.

Colin had frozen. ‘Bradley? Bradley – d’you want me to stop? I will, just –’ He withdrew a little –

But Bradley gasped, ‘No! No, don’t stop. We need – I need to do this. I want to be yours.’

‘You _are_ mine, darlin’, and I’m yours. We don’t need this to prove it.’

‘Oh god, keep goin’, keep goin’.’

Unbeknownst to Richard a tear had fallen from his eye – but when it splashed on Bradley’s cheek, Bradley turned to look up at him. They stared at each other for a long long moment. They shared a deep love for Colin, true – but more than that. They shared a deep need to let go and be true to who they were. And sometimes that was the scariest thing to do in all the world, cos it meant there was nowhere left to hide. _You can do this_ , Richard assured him. _You can be this_.

 _I know_ , Bradley at last replied. _Thank you. Now I know._ And he let out a long breath, and all the tension in him drained away.

And then it was as if his body knew instinctively what to do – Richard watched as Bradley’s thighs widened, and he sank down into it, his legs hooking around Colin’s waist and drawing him in. ‘Do it,’ he told Colin again, meaning it with all of himself this time. ‘Love me.’

‘I will, my darlin’ man. Oh god, ’n I do that.’

Then Colin pushed home, and it was done.

♦

Afterwards the two young men lay down the length of the sofa, snuggled together under the duvet with their heads using Richard’s thigh for a pillow, deep in each other’s arms. Richard stroked their arms, their backs through the goose down, profoundly glad to have shared this moment with them. But soon, it seemed, they intended more. The murmurings between them became laughter and then joshing. Eventually, Bradley said, a bit louder so that Richard would be sure to hear, ‘Col, we’d better get this old man up to bed, don’t you think?’

‘Sure, and it must be _way_ past his bedtime.’

Richard was beyond even token protests at this stage, so the three of them headed upstairs, holding hands, leading each other on, a spring in Colin’s step almost as if he were dancing. And soon enough Richard was naked, too, lying stretched out on his back with Bradley beside him, Bradley’s hand tossing him off with relentless gentleness, while Colin rambled about on all fours, kissing and licking and biting anything of either of them that took his fancy. And then once Richard had at last spilled over, Colin fell back on the bed with his legs wantonly akimbo and _begged_ Bradley to fuck him. Bradley and Richard exchanged a knowingly amused glance as Bradley moved to do so, and as their passion rose, Richard knelt beside them and caressed Bradley’s rounded rear, pushed down further and let a fingerpad stroke across his hole. Bradley groaned, and then begged, ‘Do it. Richard, do it,’ and it seemed to drive him wild for that short while, fucking and being fingered, each possession augmenting the other, until ‘ ** _oh god!_** ’ he came as if imploding, arching back in the most beautiful curve of all, and Colin rewarded Richard with the most lovingly grateful look he’d ever received. And to Richard’s surprise he was actually hard again, so Colin pounced and went down on him – and so it went on until even the two young men were utterly exhausted.

The three of them lay there, sprawled, drained. Bradley was already dozing. But Colin shook his shoulder, and said apologetically, ‘We’d better make a move.’

‘Stay,’ said Richard, beyond even a flicker of surprise at himself now.

‘But I thought you didn’t –’

– _let people sleep over_. Richard shrugged. It was true, he never did. But now he said, ‘That rule’s for casual. Stay.’

So Colin kissed him; murmured, ‘Go to sleep, Bradley darlin’,’ in the man’s ear; and arranged the duvet over them all. Richard and Colin settled in on either side of Bradley, exchanging a last fondly happy glance over his quiet snores… And the three of them snuggled happily for all the night after.

♦


End file.
